A beloved sushi restaurant in south London that closed due to a landlord dispute has reopened after almost two years.
Zaibatsu, a cult hit thanks to its affordable Japanese classics and pan-Asian cuisine, closed in January last year after its lease wasn’t renewed.
The restaurant had been a staple on Trafalgar Road in Greenwich since 2003 and served some of the best “Japanese fusion” food in town. From the outside, it looked like an old launderette, but inside it was always a hive of fine food and chaos.
Generous sushi sets were never more than £20 and comprised excellent crab rolls, tuna nigiri, salmon sashimi and more, while London hits like prawn tempura, salt and pepper squid and chicken gyozas were well below £10.
After a near-two year hiatus, Zaibatsu’s founder and chef Teck Sung Ong has announced he will reopen in a new location on Woolwich Road, another small, BYOB space in neighbouring Charlton.
Known in Britain as Dickson Ong, the Malaysian chef, who trained in Malaysian, Cantonese and Japanese cooking before moving to London more than two decades ago, said he can’t wait to welcome customers back.
“It was difficult before because we had so many loyal customers,” he told the Standard. “I didn’t want to close but that’s what happened.
“Thankfully I have a new premises. It will be the same menu, with fish sourced from Billingsgate, but it will be a little more expensive because rents are so much higher now.
“But everything will be the same, the same pan-Asian restaurant — I just want to prepare the best sushi I can as affordably as possible. It’s all about passion. I can’t wait to welcome people back.”
Curiously, Zaibatsu was never reviewed by a national restaurant critic, but it can’t be long before one visits for £4.50 sea bass nigiri, the £8 “tuna sunkiss” and salmon momiji with ponzu and jalapeno.
Other popular dishes to return include katsu duck, Malaysian chicken curry and prawn kung-po. Another dish to look forward to is the house dynamite fried noodles, a spicy combination of prawns, squid, fishcakes and shredded chicken.
Zaibatsu will reopen at 242 Woolwich Road on October 30. BYOB. zaibatsufusion.co.uk
